The Role of Unity Catalog in Payments Data Governance: Unifying Trust and Innovation

In today’s dynamic payments landscape, fintech companies face an unprecedented challenge: managing explosive growth while navigating increasingly complex regulatory requirements. As transaction volumes surge and payment methods diversify from traditional card payments to Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) services, the industry faces mounting pressure to maintain both innovation and compliance.

 

Consider this stark reality: fraud losses in peer-to-peer payments nearly doubled in a single year, reaching $1.76 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, regulatory bodies are expanding their oversight of non-bank financial companies, demanding more robust compliance frameworks and data governance strategies. For payment companies processing millions of transactions daily, the stakes have never been higher.

 

This complexity is particularly challenging for rapidly scaling payment companies. These companies face a common challenge: how to build a data architecture that enables rapid innovation while ensuring bulletproof compliance and governance.

 

Enter Unity Catalog – a transformative solution designed specifically for these challenges. More than just a data governance tool, Unity Catalog represents a paradigm shift in how payment companies can approach their data architecture. It offers a unified approach to managing sensitive payment data, enabling companies to:

 

• Centralize governance across their entire data estate
• Automate compliance workflows while maintaining agility
• Scale operations without compromising security or performance
• Enable secure collaboration across engineering, analytics, and compliance teams

 

In this article, we’ll explore how leading payment companies are leveraging Unity Catalog to transform their data governance strategies, examining real-world implementations and measurable outcomes. Whether you’re a fast-growing startup or an established player like Cash App handling millions of daily transactions, understanding this evolution in data governance is crucial for staying competitive in today’s payment ecosystem.

The Payments Industry Landscape and Challenges

The Regulatory Evolution

The payments industry is experiencing a seismic shift in regulatory oversight. In 2024, banking regulators significantly expanded their supervision of non-bank financial companies (NBFCs), introducing new compliance requirements that touch every aspect of payment operations. This expansion of oversight reflects the growing recognition that payment companies, whether traditional processors or innovative fintechs, play a crucial role in the financial system’s stability and security.

 

For companies, this regulatory evolution means adapting quickly to new requirements while maintaining their growth trajectory. The challenge is particularly acute for companies operating across multiple jurisdictions, each with its own regulatory framework and compliance requirements.

The Data Complexity Challenge

Modern payment startups face unprecedented data complexity. Their data infrastructure must support:

 

• Real-time transaction processing across multiple time zones
• Integration with diverse payment methods and platforms
• Comprehensive audit trails for compliance
• Secure data sharing between distributed teams

This complexity is magnified by the need to maintain data quality and consistency across all these operations. As shared by Cash App’s implementation team, “It’s critical to be able to boil data down into a unified format and bring a scalable compute model on top of it to keep up with growing workloads and not drive costs through the roof.”

Key Use Cases of Databricks in the Payments Industry

Operational Efficiency Through Unified Data Architecture

The journey to operational excellence in payments begins with data unification. Cash App’s transformation illustrates this perfectly. Prior to adopting Databricks, they struggled with a fragmented architecture spanning Redshift, EMR, Glue, and S3. This complexity created scalability challenges and rising costs at a time when they needed to integrate Afterpay’s data ecosystem into their operations.

 

By implementing Delta Lake, Cash App achieved what their Senior Manager of Data Engineering describes as “a unified view of our data that is both reliable and scalable.” They migrated their extract, transform, load (ETL) processes to Databricks, presenting data through Unity Catalog and AWS Glue catalogs. This unification enabled them to standardize data handling across various use cases while maintaining the flexibility to serve different types of users, from business intelligence analysts to data scientists.

Real-Time Processing for Fraud Prevention

In the payments industry, real-time capability isn’t just a feature—it’s a necessity. AME Digital, operating in Brazil’s challenging fraud landscape, demonstrates how Databricks transforms fraud prevention. Their implementation achieved a remarkable 90% accuracy in fraud detection models while reducing job execution times from 5.5 hours to just 50 minutes—an 85% improvement in processing efficiency.

 

The platform’s ability to analyze large volumes of data in real-time has proven particularly valuable during high-demand periods. As AME Digital’s Data Product Manager explains, “Databricks has helped us harness the power of our data to more swiftly identify and neutralize potential threats to our business.” This capability becomes especially crucial during peak seasons when their sales volumes quadruple.

Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning at Scale

The transformation of payment operations through machine learning represents perhaps the most exciting frontier for the industry. Coins.ph’s experience showcases how Databricks enables sophisticated ML applications while reducing operational overhead. Using MLflow to manage their machine learning lifecycle, they’ve accelerated the development of fraud detection models and anti-money laundering solutions. What previously took weeks now takes hours or days to implement.

 

PicPay, serving over 60 million customers, demonstrates how advanced analytics can drive business value. Their data team leveraged Databricks to improve customer segmentation and optimize cash-back incentive management, resulting in $10 million in operational savings. They’ve created over 50 dynamic dashboards powered by the platform, enabling real-time decision-making across finance and product development teams.

Cost-Effective Compliance and Governance

Unity Catalog has proven particularly transformative in managing compliance requirements while controlling costs. AME Digital centralized the management of personally identifiable information (PII) and enhanced access controls through Unity Catalog, leading to a 34% reduction in operational costs. Similarly, Coins.ph reported a 70% reduction in operational costs through more efficient cluster management and automated compliance processes.

These cost savings don’t come at the expense of governance. Instead, Unity Catalog enables what Cash App calls “commercially scalable” data quality standards. The platform’s ability to enforce consistent data governance policies while maintaining processing speed has proven essential for companies managing millions of daily transactions.

 

For payment companies seeking to modernize their data architecture, these use cases demonstrate a clear path forward. Whether the priority is real-time processing, advanced analytics, or cost-effective compliance, Databricks provides a unified platform that can scale with growing business needs while maintaining the stringent security and governance requirements of the payments industry.

ROI Metrics and Business Impact

The adoption of Databricks and Unity Catalog in the payments industry has delivered measurable returns across multiple dimensions. Understanding these outcomes helps illuminate not just what’s possible, but how different aspects of the platform work together to create comprehensive business value.

Operational Cost Reduction

The most immediate and quantifiable impact comes from operational cost savings. This reduction stems from several interconnected improvements in how payment companies manage their data infrastructure:

 

Coins.ph achieved a remarkable 70% reduction in operational costs through more efficient cluster management. This wasn’t just about better technology—it represented a fundamental shift in how they approached data operations. By automating previously manual processes and optimizing their infrastructure usage, they significantly reduced the resources required for day-to-day operations.

 

PicPay’s experience demonstrates how these savings compound across the organization. They reported a 50% reduction in analytics and visualization platform costs while simultaneously increasing their self-service analytics user base by 25%. This dual impact—lower costs and broader access—showcases how modern data architecture can democratize data access without inflating expenses.

Enhanced Operational Efficiency

Beyond direct cost savings, payment companies have seen substantial improvements in operational efficiency. AME Digital’s transformation provides a compelling example of this evolution:

 

• Processing speed improved by 85%, with job execution times dropping from 5.5 hours to just 50 minutes
• Fraud detection model accuracy reached 90%, significantly reducing false positives
• Data management costs decreased by 38% through improved resource utilization

 

These efficiency gains translate directly to business agility. For instance, Cash App’s implementation enabled them to handle the complex integration of Afterpay’s data ecosystem while maintaining performance and compliance standards. Their success demonstrates how a well-architected data platform can support major business initiatives without compromising operational stability.

Revenue and Innovation Impact

The platform’s impact extends beyond cost savings to enabling new revenue opportunities and innovation capabilities:

 

PicPay generated $10 million in savings through smarter cash-back reward management, showcasing how better data analytics can directly impact the bottom line. Their ability to create over 50 dynamic dashboards has transformed how they make business decisions, enabling real-time responses to market opportunities.

 

Coins.ph reported a 70% improvement in their machine learning experimentation capabilities. This acceleration in innovation means they can develop and deploy new features and products faster, responding more quickly to market demands and competitive pressures. What previously took weeks now takes hours or days, fundamentally changing their ability to innovate in fraud detection and anti-money laundering solutions.

Scalability and Growth Support

Perhaps most importantly, these platforms have proven their ability to support dramatic business growth without proportional increases in complexity or cost. Cash App’s experience scaling their user base while maintaining data integrity and compliance demonstrates this capability. Their unified data architecture has proven essential for handling increasing transaction volumes while keeping operational costs in check.

 

AME Digital’s experience during peak retail seasons, when their sales volumes quadruple, further illustrates this scalability. Their platform maintains performance and security even under dramatically increased load, enabling them to capitalize on high-volume periods without system constraints.

Compliance and Risk Management

The impact on compliance and risk management has been equally significant. Unity Catalog’s centralized governance capabilities have helped companies like AME Digital streamline their compliance processes while improving security. The platform’s ability to manage personally identifiable information (PII) and maintain comprehensive audit trails has reduced both compliance costs and risks.

 

This improvement in governance doesn’t come at the expense of agility. Instead, companies report that better governance actually enables faster innovation by providing clear frameworks for data usage and sharing. Cash App describes this as achieving “commercially scalable” data quality standards—maintaining high compliance standards while enabling rapid business growth.

Overcoming Implementation Challenges

The journey to modernizing a payment company’s data architecture isn’t without its hurdles. Understanding these challenges—and how successful companies have overcome them—provides valuable insights for organizations embarking on their own transformation journey.

Navigating Legacy System Migration

The transition from established systems to a modern data architecture represents perhaps the most significant challenge for payment companies. Cash App’s experience provides an instructive example of how to approach this transition systematically. Before their migration to Databricks, they operated a complex web of systems including Redshift, EMR, Glue, and S3. Rather than attempting a wholesale transformation, they adopted a phased approach.

 

Their team began by identifying critical data workflows and prioritizing them for migration. This methodical strategy allowed them to maintain business continuity while gradually transitioning to their new architecture. As their Senior Manager of Data Engineering explains, “We needed to ensure a more open and adaptable data management framework where everyone could simply get the data they needed.” This meant carefully planning how to maintain existing services while building new capabilities.

Managing Data Quality During Transition

For payment companies, maintaining data accuracy and consistency during migration is non-negotiable. AME Digital faced this challenge head-on when managing over 700 datasets that were often isolated in data silos within different teams and systems. Their solution involved implementing robust data validation processes at each stage of the migration.

 

The key to their success lay in establishing clear data quality metrics and monitoring them throughout the transition. They used Delta Lake’s ACID compliance capabilities to ensure data consistency, while Unity Catalog provided the governance framework to maintain data integrity across their entire ecosystem.

Building Cross-Functional Alignment

One of the less obvious but equally critical challenges involves aligning different organizational stakeholders around the new data architecture. As AME Digital discovered, being a new, digitally focused team within an older, established corporate structure created friction between teams and departments.

 

Their solution involved creating a comprehensive change management strategy that included:

 

• Understanding and addressing the specific needs of different departments, from engineering to compliance 
• Establishing clear communication channels between teams 
• Creating training programs to help staff adapt to new tools and processes 
• Demonstrating early wins to build confidence in the new system

Scaling While Controlling Costs

Many payment companies face the challenge of managing costs while scaling their data operations. Coins.ph tackled this challenge by implementing automated cluster management and optimization strategies. Their approach led to a 50% reduction in infrastructure costs while simultaneously improving performance.

The key was finding the right balance between performance and cost efficiency. By leveraging Databricks’ automated scaling capabilities and implementing proper resource governance through Unity Catalog, they created a framework that could adapt to changing workload demands without incurring unnecessary expenses.

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance Throughout

Payment companies must maintain strict compliance with regulatory requirements throughout their transformation journey. Cash App’s approach to this challenge demonstrates how to balance innovation with compliance. They leveraged Unity Catalog’s fine-grained access controls and comprehensive audit capabilities to ensure compliance wasn’t compromised during their migration.

 

Their strategy involved:

 

• Creating detailed data lineage documentation to track how sensitive data moves through their systems 
• Implementing automated compliance checks at each stage of the migration 
• Establishing clear protocols for handling personally identifiable information (PII) 
• Working closely with regulatory stakeholders to ensure all changes met compliance requirements

Best Practices for Success

Through these examples, several best practices emerge for organizations undertaking similar transformations:

 

Start with a clear assessment of your current data architecture and identify specific pain points that need addressing Develop a phased implementation plan that prioritizes critical workflows while maintaining business continuity Invest in proper training and change management to ensure smooth adoption across the organization Implement robust monitoring and validation processes to maintain data quality throughout the transition Leverage automated tools and governance frameworks to manage costs and ensure compliance Maintain open communication channels with all stakeholders, from technical teams to business users

 

By understanding and preparing for these challenges, payment companies can create a smoother path to modernizing their data architecture while maintaining the high standards required in the payments industry.

Future-Proofing with Unity Catalog

As we look ahead, the payments industry stands at a critical inflection point. The rapid evolution of payment technologies, expanding regulatory requirements, and increasing sophistication of fraud threats create a complex landscape that demands forward-thinking solutions. Unity Catalog emerges not just as a tool for today’s challenges, but as a foundation for future innovation and growth.

Preparing for Regulatory Evolution

The regulatory landscape continues to transform at an unprecedented pace. Recent industry analysis suggests that compliance will define the future of payments, particularly as regulators expand their oversight of non-bank financial companies. Unity Catalog’s flexible governance framework positions organizations to adapt quickly to these changes.

 

Cash App’s experience demonstrates how this adaptability works in practice. Their implementation of Unity Catalog enabled them to maintain clear insight into regulatory compliance while still allowing developers to move quickly. As regulatory requirements evolve, particularly around data privacy and cross-border transactions, this balance between compliance and agility becomes increasingly crucial.

Building for Scale and Innovation

The future of payments demands infrastructure that can scale seamlessly while enabling rapid innovation. Consider how AME Digital leveraged Unity Catalog to handle a quadrupling of transaction volumes during peak seasons without compromising performance or security. This kind of elastic scalability becomes even more critical as payment companies expand into new markets and launch innovative services.

 

PicPay’s transformation from a mobile payments provider to a financial super-app illustrates the importance of having a robust data foundation. Their ability to expand into new services—from e-commerce to social networking—was enabled by their unified data architecture. As their Head of Data Analytics explains, “Our goal is to leverage data and AI to create an end-to-end experience that extends far beyond payments.”

Advancing Fraud Prevention Through AI

Industry experts increasingly recognize that “identity is the new currency.” As fraud techniques become more sophisticated, payment companies must leverage advanced analytics and machine learning to stay ahead. Unity Catalog’s ability to manage sensitive data while enabling secure access for machine learning models positions companies to build more effective fraud prevention systems.

 

Coins.ph demonstrates how this works in practice. Their implementation reduced ML experimentation time from weeks to hours, allowing them to rapidly iterate on fraud detection models. This agility in model development and deployment becomes crucial as fraudsters adopt increasingly sophisticated tactics.

Embracing Real-Time Operations

The future of payments is real-time. Industry leaders predict that success and failure in payments will increasingly be determined in the fractions of a second it takes to process transactions and make decisions. Unity Catalog’s integration with Delta Lake and Delta Live Tables positions organizations to build robust real-time data pipelines that can support instant decision-making.

 

Cash App’s implementation of Delta Live Tables for streaming data from Kafka demonstrates how organizations can build reliable, real-time data processes. Their success in handling real-time data while maintaining governance standards provides a blueprint for future-ready payment operations.

Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Perhaps most importantly, Unity Catalog enables payment companies to transform data governance from a cost center into a strategic advantage. As the industry moves toward more complex, integrated payment ecosystems, the ability to manage data effectively becomes a key differentiator.

 

Consider how PicPay achieved a 25% increase in self-service analytics users while reducing platform costs by 50%. This combination of democratized access and cost efficiency creates a foundation for sustainable growth and innovation. As payment companies expand their services and enter new markets, this efficiency becomes increasingly valuable.

The Path Forward

As payment companies prepare for the future, several key considerations emerge:

 

The need for flexible, adaptable governance frameworks that can evolve with regulatory requirements while enabling innovation has never been greater. Unity Catalog provides this flexibility while maintaining robust security and compliance standards.

 

The ability to scale rapidly while maintaining performance and security becomes crucial as transaction volumes grow and payment methods multiply. The experiences of companies like AME Digital and Cash App demonstrate how unified data architecture supports this scalability.

 

The importance of enabling rapid innovation while maintaining governance standards will only increase. Unity Catalog’s ability to provide secure, governed access to data for analytics and machine learning positions organizations to innovate safely and effectively.

 

For payment companies looking to build future-ready operations, Unity Catalog offers more than just a data governance solution—it provides a foundation for sustainable growth and innovation in an increasingly complex industry landscape.

Conclusion: Transforming Data Governance from Necessity to Strategic Asset

The journey of payment companies through digital transformation reveals a fundamental truth: data governance is no longer just about compliance and risk management—it has become a cornerstone of competitive advantage. Through the experiences of companies like Cash App, AME Digital, PicPay, and Coins.ph, we’ve seen how unified data governance transforms organizations by enabling both innovation and trust.

 

Consider how these companies have redefined what’s possible in payments. Cash App successfully integrated Afterpay’s massive data ecosystem while maintaining stringent compliance standards. AME Digital reduced their fraud detection processing time from hours to minutes while achieving 90% accuracy. PicPay evolved from a payment app into a comprehensive financial platform serving 60 million customers. These achievements weren’t just about implementing new technology—they represent a fundamental shift in how payment companies approach data governance.

 

The common thread across these success stories is the recognition that robust data governance enables rather than constrains innovation. Unity Catalog has proven instrumental in this shift by providing a framework that adapts to changing business needs while maintaining security and compliance. As one Cash App engineer noted, this creates “commercially scalable” data quality standards—where governance becomes an accelerator of growth rather than a bottleneck.

 

For payment companies beginning their own transformation journey, the path forward is clear but requires careful consideration. Success depends not just on implementing the right technology, but on building a data-first culture that values both innovation and governance. This means investing in training, establishing clear processes, and maintaining open communication across teams. The rewards, as we’ve seen, can be transformative: reduced costs, accelerated innovation, enhanced security, and the ability to scale with confidence.

 

As the payments industry continues to evolve, with new technologies emerging and regulatory requirements expanding, the importance of unified data governance will only grow. Unity Catalog provides not just a solution for today’s challenges, but a foundation for future innovation. For payment companies looking to thrive in this dynamic landscape, the question is no longer whether to invest in unified data governance, but how quickly they can transform their operations to capture its benefits.

 

The future of payments belongs to organizations that can move quickly while maintaining trust—and unified data governance is the key to achieving both. As we’ve seen through numerous real-world examples, the technology exists today to make this transformation possible. The opportunity now lies in taking the first step toward building a more innovative, secure, and scalable payment ecosystem.